How to travel with unlimited Wi-Fi with WiWander

Getting access to Wi-Fi, let alone unlimited access, is becoming more important to travellers than the type of accommodation they choose.

In fact, studies show that Wi-Fi has a significant impact upon where people now choose to stay on their travels.

In my early days of travel is was where to buy a postage stamp, which later gave way to, where to find the nearest internet cafe.

Now we travel with all our devices and do everything online including booking our trips, sharing with friends, transferring money and, for some of us, continuing to work so we can earn and travel.

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I travelled to the LA for a week for the Blog Her conference and partnered with WiWander to test their Wi-Fi device as a way to get unlimited Wi-Fi when you travel.

I’ve written before about the dangers of data roaming through your normal telecommunications company. They charge more than $200 AU for 1 GB of data, which means total bill disaster for you when you return.

I’ve also spoken about the hassle of finding local SIM cards and getting the right plan for your data connection needs – unlimited data plans are getting harder to find.

Finding reliable free Wi-Fi is also a pain.

I don’t want to make travel decisions based upon where I can find free Wi-Fi, particularly since we move so much and a large part of what we do is to be online sharing on social media. It’s a pain to discover something worth sharing on the street, but can’t share it as you can’t find any Wi-Fi connection.

It’s a hassle to be connecting and reconnecting, finding Wi-Fi passwords, or even feeling obliged to buy a coffee or muffin to get it.

Let me go wherever, whenever and still be connected in an unlimited way.

I fell in love with the WiWander device. It was effortless to use, and once connected upon arrival through US immigration, I forgot I even had it. I was online the entire time without a worry of bill shock or not being able to do the things that make my travels better.

I could use Google maps to hep me explore the city, I could update to my social accounts, read reviews and suggestions on places to see and eat, and phone Craig and the girls wherever I was using Skype or Facebook messenger.

There were no dropouts or connectivity problems.

What is WiWander?

WiWander is a portable, pocket-size Wi-Fi router, and a must-have travel accessory.

You rent the device (just order online), which gives unlimited data to outbound Australian travellers for multiple destinations around the world. WiWander is perfect for leisure or business use when travelling and ensure excellent internet connection wherever you are.

WiWander is perfect for leisure or business use when travelling and ensure excellent internet connection wherever you are.

The cost of renting the device varies depending upon your travel destination. It can be as low as $5 a day in Singapore, to $15 a day in the US, to $20 a day in Europe.

For long-term travellers, buying a local SIM card would probably work out more economical, but if you’re changing countries often, then the WiWander device would work well. Finding a new SIM card in each country is a hassle and can work out expensive if you’re required to purchase a month-long plan, but will only be in the country for a few days.

What I love about WiWander

The device comes to you. No racing around to find any SIM cards or solution. You order and rent it online and the courier drops it off and picks it back up from you when you’re done.

The battery life on the device was excellent. When fully charged it would last all day and night. The only time it died on me was when I forgot to charge it overnight and went to a full conference day on half battery. It died by 10pm and I tell ya, I missed it at 2am when I wanted to call an uber. I had to walk to my friend’s apartment, connect to her Wi-Fi and then call an uber!

Consistent connection. Once you connect to the Wi-Fi you’re done. While friends of mine were running around trying to connect to free Wi-Fi, I was always on and not stressing about data limits.

Unlimited data. Perfect for our needs. On this trip, I was Skyping as well as live streaming, uploading videos and photos to social media, and doing all other online activities. If I wasn’t so busy I would have watched a Netflix show or two. If I had any other plans, I would have capped out on my data pretty quick. It was so great to not worry about data limits!

My Wi-Fi connection speed was fast almost the entire time I as away. There were only one or two experiences where it was a little slow, but it didn’t last long. I was very happy hearing many around me at the conference complaining about using the slow conference Wi-Fi and not able to connect. I was delighted to have my own personal connection. Bear in mind that it does connect to local data providers so is dependent on their speed.

A secure connection. If you have your own device, you have an extra layer of security than if you are using free Wi-Fi. Often times your mobile phone won’t even let you get on certain sites when you’re using pubic Wi-Fi, which is a pain.

You can connect multiple devices at the one time – up to 5. I had my phone and my lap top connected when I was in my LA apartment working, which did not affect speed. The WiWander device would be super handy when we’re traveling together as a family. Imagine all family members connected to the device on unlimited data!

What I didn’t like about WiWander

The only thing I didn’t like, which is a little picky, was the on/off button. It was a little slow to pick up so you were unsure if it went on or not, which sometimes resulted in you actually turning it back off. A minor issue as I often have the same problem with my phone or other tech devices.

The device is a little big. It’s not that much bigger than my Samsung 6 and fit okay in my clutch purse, but some people may think it’s too big. It wasn’t a problem for me.

It can be more expensive than getting a local SIM card. The backpacker in me protests, but, the business woman I now am argues back that for convenience and ease it’s worth it. It will depend on your length of stay and how many devices you need data for. If it’s more than one, the WiWander might make better sense.

How to book WiWander:

Book and pay online via wiwander.com at least five days before departure.

Your pocket Wi-Fi router is delivered to your address at least one day prior to your departure.

Enjoy unlimited Wi-Fi every day throughout your entire overseas trip.

A courier collects the router from your address one day after you get home.

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About Caz

Caroline Makepeace is the co-founder of yTravel Blog. She loves helping people unplug from the chaos, follow their bliss, travel more and create better memories. She has a free travel planning toolkit to help you do just that!

Caz is the flighty Libran, bringing harmony to the family through crystals, meditation, and downward dogs (and the odd glass of wine at 5pm). It's all about the balance, right? Follow her on Instagram.

Questions & Comments

This looks awesome for a lot of reasons.. the price per day is the only thing that would hold me back – you are right though, it’s great if you are going between countries on a quick trip. If there for longer then $20 per day and $15 for the states is a bit high compared to getting a SIM card (which is what I usually do in the States – there’s a crossover period where a SIM card is more economical depending on how many days I am there. Looking at this, it would be about 5 or 6 days but I totally agree, that it’s great having it from arrival. I always go and grab a sim card when I arrive which is a bit of a pain! You can get by with free WiFi to check in at home when you arrive at the airport but you can’t call anyone until you get a card. I have had the wonderful experience of trying to get an Uber while still trying to hook into airport wifi before – it’s a fine line as to how far you step outside of the terminal before you lose contact haha

Yep. I started that process of getting the uber on the free airport wi-fi before remembering I had WiWander and got connected up to do it. Made it so much easier. I think it’s a good choice for business travellers or digital nomads as well because of the unlimited wi-fi. Or, of course, any families who have a Netflix addiction!!!

ha yes… that’s true and if you upload a lot of photos with wifi it’s handy too… I will definitely consider it next time especially if I go less than a week and as you say, in Europe it can be handy if you are using it for a few things. And big conferences inevitably have WiFi issues so you can be everyone’s best friend haha.

Absolutely agree with your observations, and each traveller would have to weigh up the ‘get a local SIM data option’; biggest thing about this and mounting your own WiFi point with your phone is the security advantage. Free public and shared WiFi in overseas hotels and backpackers now scares the bejezus out of me. So much exploitative stuff out there now. And the convenience – with phones and cameras now syncing to the cloud as your take stuff – devices like this make it seamless. It is always fun watching those coming back from a day out going onto shared free WiFi in their stay place and watching everything slow to a crawl as they all upload. Nope, self contained WiFi is the answer using this or any solution. And. Yep $20 per day would be OK for a week … so measure your length of stay carefully.

You don’t know of any service like this that is based in other countries? I’m from the US and I haven’t found anything as awesome sounding as WiWander stateside – Would have been incredibly useful in Israel when we were there for two weeks – the wifi on our travel bus was so bad.

Did you get to try it on the plane ride as well? If you did, did it work?

This seems AWESOME. I think it would depend on the price per day. I usually go away for a few weeks at a time, and that could get pricey. But it’s definitely something to keep in mind, for shorter trips. – RWhttp://www.nimblenomadblog.blogspot.com

I never knew there was a device like this,and when I read this ,I had my breath taken away.It’s just amazing how easy it is now to be on the internet any time given.But,to be honest,this device is a waste of money,because not only is it expensive, but also ,when somebody’s on vacation,they need to enjoy their holidays ,not be on their phone all day long.For blog owners like you,it is pretty useful,but for other kinds of people ,like me and others,it can be helpful ,but not that much.

Thank you for this useful advice, I want to go traveling next year and I am buying all my gear over the next coming months. I am on about using http://www.mytravella.com/ to book some of the places I am going. Have you got any other places could use to book flights or hostels?

I’ve just ordered this to take away when my daughter and I go to the US next week. Between the two of us we go through 15gig of data a month, which is a lot. What with my blog, 3 social media accounts and her blog and social media accounts, it made sense to get a device like this as we will be blogging on the road. Yes its expensive but the journalist in me knows the risks of open/free wifi and I am just not willing to take the risk anymore. I’ve also just gotten a new wifi sim card for my camera so need the connectivity. Will look forward to checking it out. Thanks for your great article, I was wavering a bit but you convinced me 🙂